Safety lock mechnaism of a lighter

ABSTRACT

A safety lock mechanism of a lighter, including a lighter main body, a press key and a safety shift plate. A gas container for containing gas and an ignition unit are disposed in the lighter main body. The press key is disposed on upper side of the ignition unit. A top side of the press key is formed with a slot perpendicular to a pressing direction of the press key. The safety shift plate is slidably disposed in the slot of the press key. The safety shift plate is pushed by a resilient member, whereby in normal state, one end of the safety shift plate extends into a dent of the lighter main body to restrict the press key from being pressed down. Under such circumstance, the lighter is in a locked safety state. When a user desires to ignite the gas, the user only needs to first outward push the safety shift plate along the slot with a finger. At this time, the end of the safety shift plate is extracted from the dent and the press key is released from the restriction. Then the key press can be pressed down to activate the ignition unit for ignition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to an improved safety lock mechanism of a lighter. The safety lock mechanism prevents the lighter from being incautiously ignited by a user or unexpectedly ignited by a child so as to avoid accident or danger.

There are various types of conventional lighters. A type of conventional lighter has a toothed spark wheel for abrading a flint to generate sparks. The sparks can ignite the released gas (butane) to generate flame. Another type of conventional lighter has a striker for striking a piezoelectric cell (such as a crystal) to generate electric sparks. The sparks can ignite the released gas to generate flame. The latter is more likely to be mis-touched and unexpectedly ignited. This will lead to danger or even accident.

Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 579413 (Application No. 91103611) discloses a lighter with security mechanism. The lighter has a latch member. In original state, the latch member restricts the starter from moving so as to prevent the lighter from being operated. The latch member can be moved to a ready position where the starter can be pressed down to generate flame. The latch member can be resiliently restored to its home position. Such security mechanism includes numerous parts having complicated configurations. As a result, the manufacturing cost for such security mechanism is relatively high. Moreover, when using the lighter, it is necessary to release the starter and then ignite the gas at two discontinuous stages. Therefore, it is inconvenient to use such lighter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved safety lock mechanism of a lighter, which includes a lighter main body, a press key and a safety shift plate. A gas container for containing gas and an ignition unit are disposed in the lighter main body. The press key is disposed on upper side of the ignition unit. A top side of the press key is formed with a slot perpendicular to a pressing direction of the press key. The safety shift plate is slidably disposed in the slot of the press key. The safety shift plate is pushed by a resilient member, whereby in normal state, one end of the safety shift plate extends into a dent of the lighter main body to restrict the press key from being pressed down. Under such circumstance, the lighter is in a locked safety state. When a user desires to ignite the gas, the user only needs to first outward push the safety shift plate along the slot with a finger. At this time, the end of the safety shift plate is extracted from the dent and the press key is released from the restriction. Then the key press can be pressed down to activate the ignition unit for ignition.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above safety lock mechanism of the lighter, which has simple structure and can be easily truly locked/unlocked with single finger in a continuous operation. Therefore, it is convenient to use the lighter.

The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective assembled view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the present invention, in which the safety shift plate is in a locked state;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the present invention, in which the safety shift plate is in a released state;

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the present invention, showing that the safety shift plate is pressed down for ignition; and

FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of circled area A of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3. The present invention includes a lighter main body 1, a press key 2 and a safety shift plate 3. A gas container 11 for containing gas (butane) and an ignition unit 15 are disposed in the lighter main body 1. An exhaust valve 12 is disposed on a top side of the gas container 11. The exhaust valve 12 is connected with a nozzle 121 disposed on a surface of the lighter main body 1. A bracket 122 is disposed around the nozzle 121. The bracket 122 is formed with a dent 123 near top end of the bracket 122. A projecting fulcrum 13 is disposed between the exhaust valve 12 and the ignition unit 15. A cap 14 is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body 1 for covering the nozzle 121. The press key 2 is disposed on upper side of the ignition unit 15. A top side of the press key 2 is formed with a slot 21 perpendicular to the pressing direction of the press key 2. When the press key 2 naturally ascends, one end of the slot 2 extends to one side of the dent 123 of the bracket 122. A stop section 211 is perpendicularly formed at the other end of the slot 21. A bottom side of the press key 2 has a projecting press section 22 abutting against one end of a link 23. A resilient member 4 is disposed under the end of the link 23 for resiliently pushing the end upward. A middle section of the link 23 is rested on the fulcrum 13 of the main body 1. The other end of the link 23 is connected with the exhaust valve 12. The safety shift plate 3 is disposed in the slot 21 of the press key 2. One end of the safety shift plate 3 has projecting push section 31. The bottom of the other end of the safety shift plate 3 is formed with a receiving space in which a resilient member 32 (such as a coiled spring) is accommodated. One end of the resilient member 32 abuts against the safety shift plate 3, while the other end of the resilient member 32 is pushed by an adjustment member 33 (such as a bolt) passing through the stop section 211. In natural state, the push section 31 of the safety shift plate 3 extends into the dent 123 of the bracket 122. Under such circumstance, the press key 2 is restricted from being pressed down to ignite the gas (as shown in FIG. 3). Accordingly, the lighter is prevented from being unexpectedly ignited so as to avoid accident or danger.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, when a user desires to ignite the gas, the user only needs to first push the safety shift plate 3 along the slot 21 away from the lighter main body 1 with a finger resting on the press key 2. At this time, the resilient member 32 is compressed and the push section 31 of the safety shift plate 3 is extracted out of the dent 123 as shown in FIG. 4. Under such circumstance, the press key 2 is released from the restriction. Then the key press 2 can be pressed down to activate the ignition unit 15 for ignition. The press section 22 presses one end of the link 23 to open the exhaust valve 12. At this time, the gas is ejected from the exhaust valve 12 and ignited as shown in FIG. 5. When the user releases the press key 2, the press key 2 is resiliently pushed back to its home position by the resilient member 4. At this time, the safety shift plate 3 is also resiliently restored to the upper position where the push section 31 is pushed by the resilient member 32 to again extend into the dent 123. At this time, the lighter is restored to the original safety state.

By means of changing the position of the adjustment member 33 passing through the stop section 211 into the slot 21, the resilient member 32 is compressed to a different extent. Accordingly, the resilient member 32 can exert a different resettable pushing force onto the safety shift plate 3. Therefore, the resilient pushing force applied to the safety shift plate 3 is adjustable for optimally restoring the safety shift plate 3 to its home position.

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. 

1. A safety lock mechanism of a lighter, comprising: a lighter main body in which a gas container and an ignition unit are disposed, a bracket being disposed a surface of the lighter main body beside the ignition unit, the bracket being formed with a dent near top end of the bracket; a press key disposed on upper side of the ignition unit, a top side of the press key being formed with a slot perpendicular to a pressing direction of the press key, when the press key naturally ascends, one end of the slot extending to one side of the bracket and being aligned with the dent of the bracket; and a safety shift plate slidably disposed in the slot of the press key, one end of the safety shift plate having a projecting push sect ion, a bottom of the other end of the safety shift plate being formed with a receiving space in which a resilient member is accommodated, the resilient member being compressed between a stop section at one end the slot and the safety shift plate, whereby in natural state, the push section of the safety shift plate resiliently extends into the dent of the bracket so that the press key is restricted from being pressed down for ignition, when the safety shift plate is pushed outward away from the lighter main body, the push section being extracted out of the dent to release the press key, whereby the press key can be then pressed down for ignition.
 2. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 1, wherein an adjustment member is back and forth movably disposed at one end of the slot of the press key, the adjustment member serving to press the resilient member in the slot to different extents, whereby the resilient member can exert different pushing forces onto the safety shift plate for optimally restoring the safety shift plate to its home position.
 3. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the adjustment member is a bolt passing through the stop section of the slot from outer side to inner side.
 4. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 1, wherein an exhaust valve is disposed on a top side of the gas container, a projecting fulcrum being disposed between the exhaust valve and the ignition unit, a middle section of a link being rested on the fulcrum, one end of the link being connected with the exhaust valve, the other end of the link extending to a position under the press key to be pressed by the bottom of the press key, a resilient member being disposed under the other end of the link for upward-pushing the other end of the link, whereby when the press key is pressed down, the link opens the exhaust valve in cooperation with the ignition unit for igniting the gas ejected from the exhaust valve.
 5. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 2, wherein an exhaust valve is disposed on a top side of the gas container, a projecting fulcrum being disposed between the exhaust valve and the ignition unit, a middle section of a link being rested on the fulcrum, one end of the link being connected with the exhaust valve, the other end of the link extending to a position under the press key to be pressed by the bottom of the press key, a resilient member being disposed under the other end of the link for upward pushing the other end of the link, whereby when the press key is pressed down, the link opens the exhaust valve in cooperation with the ignition unit for igniting the gas ejected from the exhaust valve.
 6. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 3, wherein an exhaust valve is disposed on a top side of the gas container, a projecting fulcrum being disposed between the exhaust valve and the ignition unit, a middle section of a link being rested on the fulcrum, one end of the link being connected with the exhaust valve, the other end of the link extending to a position under the press key to be pressed by the bottom of the press key, a resilient member being disposed under the other end of the link for upward pushing the other end of the link, whereby when the press key is pressed down, the link opens the exhaust valve in cooperation with the ignition unit for igniting the gas ejected from the exhaust valve.
 7. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 4, wherein the exhaust valve is connected with a nozzle disposed in the bracket for burning the gas and generating flame.
 8. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 5, wherein the exhaust valve is connected with a nozzle disposed in the bracket for burning the gas and generating flame.
 9. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 6, wherein the exhaust valve is connected with a nozzle disposed in the bracket for burning the gas and generating flame.
 10. The safety lock-mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key.
 11. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 2, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key.
 12. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 3, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key.
 13. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 4, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key.
 14. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 5, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key.
 15. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 6, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key.
 16. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 7, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key.
 17. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 8, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key.
 18. The safety lock mechanism of the lighter as claimed in claim 9, wherein a cap is pivotally disposed on the surface of the lighter main body for covering the nozzle and the press key. 